Stories, ideas, and updates from DGers around the world

With the aim of improving the efficiency of agriculture data use, Development Gateway: An IREX Venture (DG), Jengalab, and TechChange—with a grant from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)—recently held a learning event, titled “Digital Agriculture: Building the Agricultural Systems of Tomorrow,” in Nairobi, Kenya. Participants identified two key recommendations for advancing digital agriculture in order to increase food security.

Corruption hampers development, undermines fair competition, and erodes social trust crucial for sustaining democratic systems. Addressing this issue requires innovative solutions that disrupt opaque and exploitative power dynamics; it’s under this idea that HackCorruption was formed.

In episode 4 of “Data…for What?!,” Beverley Hatcher-Mbu and special guests Shreeja Sen, Research Associate at IT for Change, and Dr. Melissa Omino, Acting Director at Strathmore University’s Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law, discuss data governance and protection in India and Kenya.

Join DGer Beverley Hatcher-Mbu and special guest Irene Mwendwa, Director of Strategic Initiatives & Feminist Movement Building Program at Pollicy, for episode 3 of “Data…for What?!” During the episode, they discuss digital rights in non-Western contexts.

In episode 2 of “Data…for What?!” Beverley Hatcher-Mbu speaks with special guests Natalia Carfi and Swee Leng Harris about open data and data protection. Tune in now!

Kicking off season 2 of DG’s podcast, “Data…for What?!” Beverley Hatcher-Mbu spoke with special guest Sean Martin McDonald about the data governance landscape, models, and accountability.

In this blog, DGers Ousmane Koné and Andrea Ulrich explore DG's six step “recipe” for effective data use.

As farmers become more reliant on AgTech, they may find that the AgTech providers controlling these technologies (i.e., companies, nonprofits, and governments) are more integrated than ever before, resulting in a few organizations having unprecedented access to and control of farmers’ data. This dynamic results in positive and negative outcomes for farmers. Therefore, farmers face the paradox of using AgTech and adding value to their work, communities, and food systems while giving large amounts of data to AgTech companies that have, at best, limited plans for protecting farmers’ data. In this blog, we identified recommendations and next steps for AgTech providers on how to ensure that their technology benefits smallholder farmers.

Development Gateway: An IREX Venture (DG)—with funding from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)—is pleased to announce a new project, the Great Green Wall Accelerator Multipurpose Platform. By allowing donors, partner states, and implementing agencies to share data and information on financial commitments, project implementation, and best practices, the Great Green Wall Accelerator Multipurpose Platform will ultimately improve effectiveness and efficiency in the design and implementation of the Great Green Wall initiative.

In response to the impending threat of tobacco use in DRC and the various dangers that accompany it, the Tobacco Control Data Initiative website creates a “one-stop shop” to access the relevant data that the DRC's policymakers need to advance tobacco control legislation.